Nativism and Nostalgia in the Netherlands¹

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the employment of temporality in nativist discourse. Looking at nostalgia in the context of contemporary nativism reveals that the operative temporality is not limited to just the past. The perception of "threat," central to nativism, does not only inform historical claims made by nostalgic nativists, but also refers to the present and to the future in which this threat is to be overcome. After defining nativism, the article focuses on nostalgic invocations of the national past. To what (imagined) times do nativists refer when they speak about the "good old days"? What exactly is perceived as attractive about those days? The next section deals with the dystopian and utopian invocations of the future. As for the empirical scope of this article, we focus on the two most influential representatives of the Dutch radical right: Partij voor de Vrijheid and Forum voor Democratie. We conducted a discourse analysis of textual and verbal material from the period between 2006 and 2021. By analyzing the entanglements of past, present, and the future in nativist discourses, this article seeks to enrich our understanding of the role temporality plays in the dominant debates about national belonging.

The politics of ethnic nationalism, nostalgia and anti-immigrant framing: the trajectory of the Sweden Democrats 1989-2022

“…Threats against national identity constitute an integral part of nostalgic content (Kešić et al, 2022) used by the Radical Right primarily through the alleged "invasion" of migrants (Richards et al, 2020). With such threats follows the othering of migrants and specific frames that depict immigrants as illegitimate competitors over scarce resources, the illegitimacy being determined on the basis of stipulated ancestry and heritage.…”

Those were the what? Contents of nostalgia, relative deprivation and radical right support

“…Moreover, the PVV uses nostalgic rhetoric (Kešić et al, 2022). For example, Wilders promised to bring back the life of 'Henk and Ingrid', a fictional Dutch couple that is considered a stereotype of the good Netherlands.…”

“…The party mobilizes with populist, authoritarian and nativist appeals and is categorized as radical right under the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES; Jolly et al., 2022). Moreover, the PVV uses nostalgic rhetoric (Kešić et al., 2022). For example, Wilders promised to bring back the life of ‘Henk and Ingrid’, a fictional Dutch couple that is considered a stereotype of the good Netherlands.…”

Nationalism and the Politics of Nostalgia1

“…The “narrative of rebirth” (Kešić et al. 2022:4) is a key ingredient and rests on the notion of moral decay and forgotten virtues. The myth of decline tells a narrative about a community adrift giving way to individualism and particularistic interests at the expense of collective ideals (Smith 1999:67).…”

“…The temporal dimension of nostalgia is analyzed by Kešić et al. (2022). The authors bring out the role of “threats” in nostalgic content and the nativist discourse in the Netherlands.…”